But what is necessary to do is not to cry over spilt milk but to see that procedures are put in place to ensure that this does not happen again.”In future, Lord Irvine said, when a panel of law lords was assembled to hear an appeal, they should meet beforehand to ensure that none of them had a connection that could give rise to the appearance of a conflict of interest. It is in the highest degree unfortunate because it does have a tendency to bring the legal system into disrepute,” Lord Irvine told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.”This was, of course, litigation where the eyes of the world were, and are, upon us. By Gavin Cordon

THE LORD Chancellor said yesterday that the legal system was being brought into disrepute by events in the extradition case against General Augusto Pinochet.
Lord Irvine of Lairg said that new procedures had to be adopted to ensure there was no repeat of the setting aside of the law lords’ ruling that the former Chilean dictator was not immune, as a previous head of state, from proceedings.A second panel of law lords ruled that the case would have to be reheard after it emerged that a member of the original panel, Lord Hoffmann, had links to Amnesty International, which had been campaigning for the extradition to Spain of General Pinochet.”It is of course unprecedented. “We need to allow the police and courts to take greater action against those hooligans who besmirch the game of football, dishonour our national reputation abroad, and spoil it for decent, law-abiding football fans,” he said..

However, ministers are determined to ensure the measures become law and will propose amendments to the Bill in the new year.The Government is keen to get legislation in place to boost England’s bid for the 2006 World Cup and to guarantee that the rioting that marred France 98 is not repeated at the European Championships in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000.Mr Burns, who came sixth in the MPs’ ballot for private members’ Bills, said yesterday he hoped the measures would help repair the damage caused by the England fans’ exploits in Marseilles this summer. It would also force suspected hooligans to surrender their passports to police before foreign matches and ban fans from British grounds for up to 10 years on conviction of a criminal offence.More controversial government proposals to allow chief constables to impose city-wide bans on alcohol sales before a game will be suggested as amendments.Civil liberties groups criticised the suggestion, as well as Home Office plans to allow courts to issue restriction orders even if a fan has not been convicted. The new restrictions are likely to reach the statute book after the Government announced it would give its full backing to an MP’s Bill to prevent troublemakers from travelling abroad or chanting racist abuse at home.
The Football Spectators’ Offences Bill, drawn up by Simon Burns, Tory MP for Chelmsford West, would make it an offence for an individual to make racist or indecent chants at a football ground. Stephanie Thomas, the store’s retail manager said: “We sell gift sets, or coffret sets as they are called, and that is probably why we have pulled through. Customers are looking for a higher grade of service from us and added value is what we provide.”. SWEEPING POLICE powers to impose city-wide alcohol bans are to become law as early as this summer as part of a wider crackdown on football hooliganism, it emerged yesterday.

Sales volume is being maintained at Superdrug, with discounts of up to 30 per cent on top brands, while supermarkets such as Asda are competing with discounts of up to 75 per cent.Prestige outlets such as Selfridges, on Oxford Street in London, are using other methods. Simon Horne of the Body Shop said: “In the Nineties people are looking to things like aromatherapy, to more natural fragrances and ways of living their lives, and a reflection of that is a simpler perfume.”
If simpler is a synonym for cheaper, tests by Which? magazine seem to support this idea. In blindfold trials, sniffers failed to detect price differences, and some said that cheaper scents smelt more expensive than some expensive perfumes.Industry insiders believe the increasing sophistication of consumers may also be leading to fragrance fatigue.In the past decade, 813 perfumes have been launched, most concocted, bottled and marketed at a cost to the manufacturer of less than pounds 10.Predictably this deluge of new products has left some losers. Yardley collapsed in August with debts of pounds 120m and other big manufacturers are also cutting back.Retailers are combating the changing climate in differing ways.

Even for a special occasion such as Christmas, perfume is not as glamourous as it once was. Scent sales are also stagnating across continental Europe, except in France. House prices would continue to rise at just above the rate of retail inflation.. SALES OF perfume are declining, with the UK market shrinking by pounds 6m in the past two years, according to analysts. That, too, could hold back the scale of the nation’s annual bargain-hunting spree.Barclays Bank is predicting a steady housing market in 1999. The bank’s forecast, issued yesterday, included mortgage rates falling to 6 per cent from the present 7.5 per cent and a boom in capped-rate mortgages as borrowers tried to lock into lower rates for the long term.

Ms Grain admitted: “People might be a bit disappointed because retailers had their fingers burnt last year.” There would be bargains, she said, but the sales were unlikely to last as long.Consumer confidence has also been dented by the gloomier economic outlook. Last year it was very slow until the 21st and then completely turned around.”But the battle is not going all the consumers’ way. They hold on to their money or give gift vouchers so that they can take advantage of the sales.”Ann Grain, speaking for the British Retail Consortium, said: “We hope this December follows last year’s pattern. The scene was similar at the MetroCentre in Gateshead, according to the manager, John Bell.